My pole lathe spinning days have been over for a while due to arthritis in my knee. I have now adapted my shave horse to be a carving vice and tine cutter horse but I am wondering if I can modify further to create some kind of treadle lathe. It would need to be simple to build reasonably light, and obviously can come to pieces. I would only use it to make coat pegs, dibbers, buttons etc. I figure it would not strain my joint too much as I could sit and use my good left leg instead of using it to balance and would make a different novelty factor at the events I cover. I have looked at the bow lathe but I think the scrunched up position would not agree with my spine (falling to bits me)I am wondering if there are plans of a previous build you may know of or possibly you can see a flaw in my plan. I figure if an 8 inch wooden automata man can make a pole lathe work as we saw at the Bodgers ball maybe I can work a tiny version too!

Go for it Heather, of course its possible. Not sure how its to be done and I have not got the time to put thought into it at the moment. I would suggest lots of drawings to explore ideas and maybe then a cheap mock up but working version from cheap wood. This will soon tell you how and what need stop be changed in order for it to work perfectly. I also often just sit or lay down and visualise in my minds eye what it could look like. I find this design process to be great fun. I look forward to seeing your ideas and will also be happy to advise if you get stuck.

"Scarcely anything is original- it`s very hard to be totally inventive, so I am not terribly interested in originality. Vitality is all I care about" Clive JamesGreen wood courses, tools, demonstrations.http://www.seanhellman.com/woodwork/